DUBAI // Heritage tourism is being given a major push as Dubai works towards Expo 2020 and winning Unesco World Heritage status for the old city. Emirati-themed guesthouses in areas such as Heritage Village and Bastakiya, the oldest inhabited part of Dubai, are being given support by the Heritage Department and the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), to ensure visitors experience the authentic, Emirati side of the city. Mona Hauser, owner of the XVA gallery and guesthouse in Bastakiya which has been open since 2003, has just expanded the guesthouse from nine to 13 rooms. She is hoping her business will grow into the nearby houses that have been there since the early 20th century. “There’s a lot of space not being used,” she said. “This is a place people want to see. The kind of clientele we have want to be in the cultural area and stay in a boutique hotel, not a five-star hotel where you wake up and could really be in any country.” Read More
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There is also a comeback for realty as UAE records $1.65b in total 2013 ad spend Dubai: With sharp increases in ad spend for each of the last three months of 2013, led by campaigns for Expo 2020 and upbeat retail and real estate sectors, the UAE easily retained the status of being the region’s top advertising market. The ad industry is estimated to have spent a substantial $1.65 billion (Dh6.06 billion) compared with $1.57 billion in 2012, according to the latest estimates — based on official media rate cards — by Pan Arab Research Centre (Parc). (The numbers relate only to traditional media and do not account for spending on digital platforms.) From mid-October and right through November, government and private sector entities made a splash talking up Dubai’s credentials as host city for the World Expo 2020. Once the announcement of the win was made, it set off another round of high-profile celebratory campaigns that were there well into the second week of December. In November alone, an estimated $157 million was spent in the UAE across all media and up from October’s tally of $149 million. Read More
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